Rob Roy

You can imagine how delighted I was to see the black kitten sitting on the wall inside the well fencing this morning! [:-))] He came out when I called him, but I know that won't stop him. His mother was the same when she was small, I don't know why or what the fascination is.

Beauty salons seem to be very popular here. Perhaps you could freelance working for several on a self-employed basis that would help to bring in some income while you build up your own client base, especially if you can offer a treatment they do not have themselves at present.

Couldn't you work as a virtual legal secretary - I understood that many legal firms now outsource their work.

Thanks for your replies. I didn't realise it wasn't frost hardy so good job you told me Phil! Another one to join the lemon trees and potted hostas in the barn for the winter! I don't suppose it would survive with fleece round it? Mind you we can get -10 to -15 here, so probably not.

Thank you Tresco. Yes, I have been through all the possible scenarios in my head, searched the barns, looked down the well but it is far too deep to see anything. I watched mum who didn't seem too worried until Sunday evening when she was calling and calling everywhere outside for her missing baby. Although they had been in the house for the first 6 weeks she took them out to live in the barn about 10 days ago, which I didn't mind as I don't want three cats living in the house. Although the well is fenced the cats can get between the bars, and unfortunately seem to like playing around it [:@]

We have not seen our black and white kitten, Smudge, since Sunday morning. We don't know what has happened to it but I have a horrible feeling it might have fallen down the well, but don't know for sure, which for me is the worse thing[:(]. It was such a sweet little thing and it's mum was so good with them. We still have the black one, called Sootie for some reason! [IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/Venturingout04.jpg[/IMG]  

I bought this young shrub, but can't remember the name of it! I think it needs repotting or planting out now and would like look up some information about it. Can anyone help, please? [IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/DSCF0960.jpg[/IMG]

It seems that most of the hunting dogs are not that well trained over here, and when they are let out they just take off and go. Our farmer neighbour has two hunting dogs, and every time he takes them out he comes back without Rancho who has taken off and was last seen heading for the horizon! He then waits for a phone call from someone telling him where Rancho is, and off he goes to collect him! At this time of year poor Rancho and his young friend (who is new and I don't know its name) are in their run all the time and are bored silly, so they bark at anything they see or hear. They must get so frustrated seeing our dogs going off for a walk/swim down to the river, poor things! The farmer's partner has apologised to us for the noise the dogs make (although they are not that near us) and has told her OH he must do something to stop them barking - I'm not quite sure what she thinks that he can do! [img]http://bestsmileys.com/dogs/3.gif[/img]

We have two dogs, a puppy, a cat and a kitten. I love them all dearly, but I'm afraid the vets will never get rich from us. The cat has never seen a vet, the dogs rarely do, although the puppy is having his initial course of injections at present, and next visit is getting his microchip as well. Personally I think animals are a lot tougher than we give them credit for. I think you did the right thing when your puppy was stung so much, but most flying insects are faster than the dog's reaction - so it is unlikely to catch many, although they love trying.

Thank you both.  Kimberly I have passed on your message.

I know this is very unlikely, but my French neighbour has been looking for a gite or mobile home for a week's holiday, any time between now and end of August, near the beach. I don't suppose anyone has a late cancellation? It is for herself, her mother and her 3 year old daughter.

Here is a link that will give you some information. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/lymedisease.htm However, I also removed a tick from the inside of my thigh a couple of months ago, and about 3 weeks later noticed a rash on my hip, and had a stinging pain too. I was convinced I had caught LD [:-))]. As it happens I had to visit the doctor for a medical for my job and when I showed him the rash he told me I had 'Zona' - which in English is shingles!. So don't panic and if worried see your GP[:)]

"We would still prefer to use the Autoroutes and would as per normal complete the journey in a day. At the moment it is taking us anywhere between 11 hours and in heavy traffic maybe 15 hours" Ah, but the best way to relieve the stress would be to stop off for the night after about 6 hours driving at a relaxed and friendly CdH just off the A.20[;-)][:D]

[quote user="Alcazar"] I find French forecasts generally right, especially those from the local-type papers. The worst are UK forecasts, from the metoffice: WRONG for us on Humberside nearly every day. They only seem to care about the south east, a bit like the BBC: if it's not happening to London, it's not happening. Our local metoffice forecast is updated to match whatever's happening, quite regularly! Alcazar [/quote] We find the French forecasts for this area pretty good too, and I agree about the BBC - we lived in Norfolk and BBC East kept telling us what was happening in Royston and Luton etc, since when were they in the East of England? It is like the mind set of those living in the South East - everything stops at Watford [;-)]

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. I am running Windows XP, and when I bought the computer everything was already loaded (as it was secondhand) so I don't have any disks or registration number. I have Norton Antivirus and got rid of Spyware on advice from someone. All I want to do is get rid of the very annoying message (that looks very genuine) when I switch on, so will follow the advice for that. Re. the monitor - I will check the leads (another crawl under the desk!) but I am wondering if it is on it's way out [:(][:(]. Perhaps I can get a flat screen as an early Christmas present[:)]

Maybe it is time to review some of what is shown on Top Gear? [Www]

I'm with John and Di on this one. I used them once a month for a long weekend trip for nearly two years flying back and forth Stansted - Limoges or Rodez and only once had a delayed flight (late arriving from London). They do what most people want - A to B as cheap as possible. "They claim to be the cheapest airline, and may be sometimes, but when I looked for Spring Bank Holiday week as soon as the summer schedule was out, it was £400 for 2 return to France.  So we went  BA as it was cheaper." Their holiday periods are always 'blackouts' for cheap fares. I hope you get a pleasant suprise when you use them, and then judge them on your experiences and not on other peoples comments.

[quote user="KatieKopyKat"] Yeah thanks but I will be more happy when my husband starts peeing like one. Grumpy Mrs Mop today.[:@] [/quote] I love that comment Katie - perhaps you should send him into the garden too![img]http://bestsmileys.com/cleaning/3.gif[/img]

I have had my computer for a couple of years, bought secondhand in the UK. A couple of weeks ago a message suddenly appeared when I switched on saying it is not running a genuine copy of Windows and telling me what to do to fix it (spending money of course![:(]) I am quite happy with what I have, so can I leave things alone and is it possible to get rid of this message as it appears every time I turn on? P.S. I also suspect my monitor is going as it changes to a yellowish colour every so often - would my guess be right?[:@]

Artois, sorry to hear about your lost bookings. Where is your gite, perhaps you might get a booking through here, if we all know where you are based! Just a thought.

The one thing I found I kept doing at first was looking in the wing mirror on my left, instead of the rear view mirror on my right![8-)].

Miki, I did say that there was no excuse for the head butt -  but I still think his reaction is understandable, although not appropriate. I still think the 'Latin' teams, for want of a better group description, are far worse at diving and play acting than most. They can't even remember which part of the body is supposedly hurt half the time!

"Oh and when the mormons call I tell them I am catholic" Do you mean the Mormons, or Jehovah Witnesses? My dear departed father-in-law used to tell the JW he was a blood donor - quick exit stage left![:)] We find that having the answerphone on is the best way to deal with cold callers, I can hear who's talking and can answer if necessary, but telesales just ring off. They seem to love to ring at lunchtime in France, I suppose they know the families are usually at home then[:P]

The Italian supposedly, amongst other things, wished Zidane's family "to have an ugly death" or some such comment - this in the light of Zidane's mother recently being diagnosed as seriously ill. No excuse for the head butt, although understandable if that was the case. When are FIFA going to do something about the South American/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese teams diving and play acting all the time? It's a joke.  

And as you can see from the link Christine has put up anything like this is much more expensive in France! [:(]